Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 800 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,018 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $1,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Alkermes by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Alkermes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $281,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alkermes by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 91,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Alkermes by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 90,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 11,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Alkermes by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 9,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alkermes Trading Up 0.9 %

Alkermes stock opened at $34.33 on Friday. Alkermes plc has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $36.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.38. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alkermes

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 61,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total value of $1,961,112.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,525,762.32. This represents a 56.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total transaction of $85,708.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $732,964.05. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 318,400 shares of company stock worth $10,702,911. Insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ALKS shares. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alkermes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.36.

Alkermes Company Profile

Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates in development for neurological disorders.